/*
 * Order.java November 2007
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2007, Niall Gallagher <niallg@users.sf.net>
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
 * implied. See the License for the specific language governing
 * permissions and limitations under the License.
 */

package wx.xml.simpleframework.xml;

import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;

/**
 * The <code>Order</code> annotation is used to specify the order of
 * appearance of XML elements and attributes. When used it ensures
 * that on serialization the XML generated is predictable. By default
 * serialization of fields is done in declaration order.
 *
 * @author Niall Gallagher
 */
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface Order {

    /**
     * Specifies the appearance order of the XML elements within the
     * generated document. This overrides the default order used,
     * which is the declaration order within the class. If an element
     * is not specified within this array then its order will be the
     * appearance order directly after the last specified element.
     *
     * @return an ordered array of elements representing order
     */
    String[] elements() default {};

    /**
     * Specifies the appearance order of the XML attributes within
     * the generated document. This overrides the default order used,
     * which is the declaration order within the class. If an attribute
     * is not specified within this array then its order will be the
     * appearance order directly after the last specified attribute.
     *
     * @return an ordered array of attributes representing order
     */
    String[] attributes() default {};
}
